MONACO (AP):

Third-seeded Novak Djokovic and No. 4 Andy Murray both won in straight sets yesterday to reach the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters.

Djokovic was rarely troubled in a 6-1, 6-2 win against Oscar Hernandez of Spain, while Murray began slowly before easing past Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-3, 6-2 to stay on course for a first career quarter-final on clay.

"I didn't quite expect to perform that good, considering the fact that I didn't have any matches, singles matches, on this surface," Djokovic said. "But I was really playing aggressive and patient at the same time. This combination is really important for this surface. So hopefully I can continue."

Murray twice dropped serve early to trail 2-1 in the opening set, but the British player took the next four games for a com-manding lead.

"At the start of the match when I got broken, I was sort of moving like I was still on a hard court," Murray said. "And then after four, five, six games, I started to move better."

Murray, who lost to Roger Federer in the US Open final last year, next takes on the winner between the 14th-seeded Marin Cilic and Fabio Fognini of Italy. If he wins that, he will reach a clay-court quarter-final for the first time in his career.

"It takes time, I never played that well on clay especially in the last couple of years," Murray said. "I played solid and he made some mistakes. I was happy with the way I played for my first match on clay this year."